Qompendium is an evolving and ever-changing platform for philosophy, art, culture and science, represented by a series of print publications: magazines, books and monographs. Furthermore, it is enriched by a gallery concept, a work shop and a fast-moving online portal.

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Qompendium

Regular Edition Volume 1

Qompendium Print Publication is a selective journey through the multiverse of intentional and unintentional time capsules featuring an array of exceptional pictorial essays, unabridged interviews and supplementary brand editorials.

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Supergraphics, Superbook!

Have you bought your own brain-food for the holidays already? No, wait! Get your wallet because this book is a definite “must” next to your bed, if not for the uncounted color plates then for the great interviews and essays on the subject of super-scale typography, illustration and graphics that appear on buildings, public spaces, construction site hoardings, the reception areas of advertising agencies, hotels, clubs and cultural venues. And who else could compile such a book any better than designer Tony Brook of Spin and Adrian Shaughnessy? With an educated eye for typography and love for details Tony Brook and Adrian Shaughnessy have brought together a vast collection starting from the 1960s to present day along-side some influential names of the industry giving insight on the business of “supergraphics”. A superbook! Again well produced and exceptionally designed. Just one tiny little rant: Since the publisher has decided to print on an uncoated paper the color profiles could have been worked on. We appreciate the use of uncoated paper qualities and watch the production techniques very closely.

The BookSupergraphics is a new book from Unit Editions. It is an exhaustive survey of the growing trend for the melding of graphic design and architecture on a monumental scale. All over the world, super-scale typography, illustration and graphics are appearing on buildings, public spaces, constructionsite hoardings, the reception areas of hip advertising agencies, hotels, clubs and cultural venues.

Supergraphics is the first book to chart this explosion from its 1960s origins to its present day digital manifestations. Supergraphics began in the mid-sixties when a group of maverick architectural theorists envisaged the removal of ‘solidity, gravity, even history’ by the simple expedient of applying paint and graphics to interior and exterior surfaces of buildings.

This book charts the early experiments in California culminating in supergraphics’ high water mark – the Sea Ranch bathhouse graphics of Barbara Stauffacher Solomon. Supergraphics features a long revealing interview with Stauffacher Solomon, as well as interviews with two other pioneers of the art form: the English-born, Americaneducated architect Barrie Briscoe, and the French inventor of the ‘Polychrome City’, Jean-Philippe Lenclos.

The book also examines the work of Deborah Sussman, designer of the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics graphics. In an interview, Sussman charts the way in which supergraphics moved from architectural theory to its now ubiquitous commercial presence in urban environments around the world.

The book also has interviews with two giants of contemporary supergraphics: Paula Scher and Morag Myerscough. Both reveal the extent to which supergraphics is a discipline dominated by women designers, and one that has a profound social purpose in the way itcan promote well-being and renewal.

Finally, in addition to looking closely at the world’s leading practitioners of contemporary supergraphics, the book also peers into the future and speculates on the likely shape of supergraphics in a digital world.

With the aid of essays, commentaries and mouth-watering visuals, Supergraphics is a book that shows what happens when graphic designers, illustrators, interior designers and architects work together to dissolve ‘solidity, gravity, even history.’